Ask any New Orleans Saints fan and they’ll tell you the “Who Dat” Nation is everywhere.

Even in Vicksburg.

When the Saints are on the road — not in the Superdome — a group of the team’s fans gathers at Roca restaurant. And this season, thanks to a 12-0 record, they’ve had plenty to cheer about.

They wear the jerseys of their heroes. Jeremy Shockey. Marques Colston. And of course, Drew Brees.

Then there are some who go old school: Archie Manning and Morten Andersen.

Morten Andersen?

For those born after the dawn of the digital age who have no idea who Andersen is, just ask the wearer of the jersey, Michael Woodrick. He can definitely clue you in to the Great Dane’s significance as the Saints’ all-time leading scorer at placekicker. Woodrick has been a Saints fan as long as he can remember. He even remembers his first clothing with the Saints’ distinctive fleur de lis logo.

Wearing Colston’s No. 12 and never far from the action is longtime Saints’ fan Rob Mordica, who is the de facto ringleader of this northern outpost of the “Who Dat” Nation and who arranged for the Saints fans to have a home away from home to gather and watch the games. He’s seen everything from Tom Dempsey’s record-setting 63-yard field goal, to the rise of the Saints in the late 1980s and early ’90s, former coach Jim Mora’s “diddly-poo” postgame rant and the Mike Ditka disaster.

“I remember when Archie Manning came to the Saints, being that I’m a huge Ole Miss fan, that we thought big things were going to happen,” Mordica said. “They just couldn’t build a team around him. They couldn’t get the receivers for him to throw to. Not like they have now. But this management team they’ve got now has done a good job of building an all-around team.”

On Sunday, the Saints were coming off a huge victory, a 38-17 pummeling of the New England Patriots, and headed for a classic trap game against the 3-8 Washington Redskins. The Saints entered the contest scoring 37 points per game while the Redskins hadn’t broken 30 all season long.

The mood was tense as the Redskins darted out to a 10-0 first-quarter lead. The game was tied going into the half. Every high and low was chronicled in groans and cheers.

With time ticking down in the fourth quarter and the Redskins rolling to a gimme game-clinching field goal up 30-23, the mood went somber. But the kick sailed wide, and cheers reinvigorated the room and during each big throw by Brees on a game-tying 80-yard drive. The crowd got louder as Brees hit a wide-open Robert Meachem for a 53-yard TD strike to knot the game after Garrett Hartley booted the PAT.

The Redskins’ final gasp in regulation fell short to more cheers and the game headed to overtime. The Who Dat folks were exasperated as the Redskins marched methodically down the field, but the Saints got a break when Chris McAlister forced a huge fumble by Mike Sellers. Or did he? The replay booth decided, perhaps hearing, “It’s a fumble!” being shouted at the television by the Vicksburg group. The Saints won after Brees drove down the field and Hartley ended the game with a field goal.

“We could have the perfect season, but the perfect season really comes with a Super Bowl win,” Woodrick said. “The Super Bowl is the first week of February, Mardi Gras starts the second week of February and then there is Saint Paddy’s Day… The party will go all year long until Labor Day and everyone will be partied out. Or at least until football starts again.”

Contact Steve Wilson at swilson@vicksburgpost.com